Secret Santa Cards

Well, the cards are all in the mail! I hope you all get them in time. I held off for as long as I could to give everyone time to send theirs in. Some didn't manage it, so I have made a couple of extra ones to send out.

Here's the gallery. Enjoy!


I've followed Debbie's blog, Passion For Crafts, for some time, so I knew she made gorgeous cards- but this one she made for the swap is exquisite! The photo doesn't do it justice but gives you an idea of its "wow factor" :)
....close up on the stamp, embellished with sparkles....


Lorianna's card, with tag and beautifully coloured ladies:
Sally In Norfolk's card uses the Iris Folding technique (hooray! A pusscat!):

Mrs Nesbitt's card- it doesn't show well in the photo, but this uses fabric and sparkles:

Miss Peach's card- again, the photo doesn't do it justice- there is amazing clear embossing on this card!:
-a cute wee photo of herself inside......

Stardust's card.... Stardust drew my name in the swap, and I was completely stunned by her card! So much work went into it- look at Bob and Dilly! Such tiny stitches, and so much detail. It really looks like them!!!
Poopsie Blue's card (great recycling of a CD!!!!):

Freebird's card, her original drawing :) wonderful!
From Chewy, a brilliant Bear pawtrait!!!!

Chalky's card, using some of her photography:
.....and a knitted stocking inside :)
Sandy's card is an amazing pop-up!
And a few from me:

Thanks to everyone for taking part. It was great fun and a real privilege to see them all. Such talent! I hope they all arrive safely!

Eleven cards...

An order for 11 cards, which had to include one for a little girl who loves pink :)

The photo's aren't too good as I took them in artificial light, but I need to get them mailed out today! I've used some of the lovely hand-coloured papers that Julie sent me the other month on some of these. Thanks, Julie!! They are gorgeous, and great fun to use. If you have another clear out any time...... :)

-this snowman card and the cat card below have some of Julie's papers in the background. On the cat one I've tried a bit of decoupage :)

All the pictures are stamped and then I've used Derwent Water-Colour pencils....
I love this "House Mouse" image.
I wonder if they will notice how I drew the mousie's ears into the shadow :)

More of Julie's paper on these next 3....

Hope the recipient likes them!!!


Secret Santa Cards...

I am sending these out this week! A few people didn't manage to get theirs done after all but never mind, I'm making a few extra so that no one misses out. Once they 're all winging their way I'll put photo's of them all on here.

SHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My shop is online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here it is-

http://www.shophandmade.com/Store/Helena

They have a fancy linky for the sidebar but it isn't working yet. Please come and have a look! It is painfully slow uploading each card, only a few on there so far, but I have photographed a boxful and will be uploading them pretty much for the rest of the evening.

Lots of shops on the ShopHandMade site are having a 6 day sale from today, where everything is 10% off & I've decided to join in! So, if you ever fancied one of my cards, this is the time to grab it! LOL!

Prices are LOW! And quoted in USD - the site requires this, but you can pay in any currency. Payment is through PayPal but you don't need an account with PayPal to do so and they don't charge.

OooOOooOOoooOoooOoo I'm worn out but quite excited :)


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QUICK update on SECRET SANTA CARD SWAP

Most of the cards are here, and they are amazing! I am just waiting on 4 now:
1 of these, I know, is in the post, winging its way as I type.

I had intended to photograph them all together and publish the pic here before sending them out, but I think it would be more sensible to send them now and put up a post showing individual pic's, after they have all been received. I'll wait till mid next week then start sending them. You're in for treats!!!! I can't take in all the talent! It has been a privilege to see them all. Thank you!

The Secret Santa Draw!

Well, the draw has been done!

I have scoured emails and comments boxes and come up with a final list of participants. Can I just say that I am SOOO SOOO sorry if you told me along the way that you'd like to take part and then find your name missing from the list. I promise you, if this is the case then it is NOT anything personal, it is just a failure on the part of my brain! So huge apologies if this has happened. If it has, please don't abandon me! Keep an eye on how it all goes and then maybe next year we could do an Easter one, and you can be in on that!

So here we are-

• Amy
• Chewy
• Sally in Norfolk
• Stardust
• Lorianna
• Blue
• Debbie from Debbie's Blog of Life
• Debbie from Passion for Crafts
• Freebird
• i.beati (Sandy)
• Miss Peach
• Rachelle
• Mousie from Plumpiemousie
• Mrs Nesbitt
• Chalky
• Me

My trusty assistant, Dilly, did the draw last night:......and I am now in the process of emailling you all to tell you who you are making something for. I'm not, of course, telling you who is going to be making yours. That's all part of the surprise!

Have fun!!!!

Secret Santa Update

OK here we go!
I'm a little behind because my back is slowing me right down. Still hobbling about and making sudden "Aaaarrreeeeeehhhhhhhh" noises as it all jars. But getting a bit more mobile.

Might even attack the laundry today- hurray, hey wow and cockadoodle-doo! (Can you detect a wee bit of sarcasm there?)

But I'll start a wee notebook today, of peeps taking part in the card swap, their emails and snail-mail addresses, then do the lucky dip and get to letting you all know who you're making for.

Meanwhile....

In my unable-to-sleep much, not-able-to-be-doing-much state, I went cyber shopping.... Oh Lor! And I have ordered a new Xmas stamp (very cute) from Little Claire Designs:
Ahhh! Couldn't resist, as, unlike a lot of the Xmas stamps I've seen, this one didn't cost the earth. I also ordered some bargain new papers and glittery stuff, bits and pieces, and some more crochet flowers.

Now look, my mum said she was interested in taking up crochet again (after many decades) and so I bought her a book on it and needles and wool and stuff..... but still no crochet flower factory on tap. What's going on here? LOL!

Secret Santa

OK peeps! The Secret Santa idea has got the thumbs up!!!

So far we have...

Mrs Nesbitt
Chalky
Amy
Chewy
Sally in Norfolk
Stardust
Lorianna
Blue
Debbie- from Debbie's Blog of LIfe
Freebird
Me
and Shrinky is thinking about it. (Now look, Shrinks, you've made it an odd number. We can't have an odd number or it won't work. You either have to do it or pay one of us lots and lots of money to drop out. HAHAHA.)

OK, how about I do the draw on September 25th, then tell you all who you're making a card/atc for. Then how about November 25th as the date by which all cards have to be sent to me. Then I can take a big pic of them all and send them out the first week of December. If you can see any problems with these dates, let me know ok?

SO........ SEPTEMBER 25th is the cut off date for anyone else who wants in!

If you want to join in read my original post (the one after the next one) and leave a comment there or here to let me know.

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Afterthought....

D'oh! Of COURSE you can do this with an odd number! What was I thinking? Hey ho! Well, it was the middle of the night, I suppose.... LOL!

Secret Santa???

I'm wondering if to have a go at organising a Christmas Papercraft Swap.
It would be a way of getting bloggers from different places to exchange a card or ATC for Christmas. I haven't thought it through completely but what about this-

1. People leave a message to say they're "in" (I'd need a cut-off date, or a quantity date!) and privately email me their address.
2. I put all the names in a hat and then do a "Secret Santa".
3. I tell each person who they're crafting for but not who is crafting for them (that's a surprise for them, when they get theirs). They should then have a look through that person's blog to see what their taste is e.g., so you don't send a cat card to someone who loathes cats! (Oh! Who could loathe cats?).
4. Everyone sends their card to me by 30th November.
5. I take a photo of them all in a big group photo to post on my blog in Christmas week.
6. I send out all the cards.
   
7. Everyone gets a nice, handmade card, perhaps from a blogger in another country!

What do you think???